Car-loader



(No Model.) a slrs-sneet 1.

. H. PHILLIPS HW. HUNT.

GAR LOADER.

N0. 570,880. Patented NOV. 3, 1896.

ATTORNEY.' u

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

H. PHILLIPS 8v W. HUNT.

' GAR LOADER.

Paten-ted Nov. 3,` 1896. IIIIIIIIIIMIMIIIIIIIIIHIIIHI (No Modem .s sheets-shet'a. H. PHILLIPS 8u W. HUNT. Y `CAR LOADER. No. 570,880. Patented' Nov. 3, 1896.

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bf N' v E Ps o w .fg\ G) wf v i V @Meg/W l M w/V/vfss'fs.- /NVE/vros UNITED STATES APATENT OFFICE. 'l

HENRY PHILLIPS AND WILLIAM HUNT, OF OTTUMWA, IOWA.

CAR-LOADER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 570,880, dated November 3, 1896.

Application led July 27, 1896. lSerial No. 600,697. (No model.) i

To all whom it mag/concern.:

Be it known that we, HENRY PHILLIPS and WILLIAM HUNT, citizens of the United States, residing at Ottumwa,in the county of Wapello and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Loaders and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in box or stock car loaders.

It has for its object to provide mechanism which can be conveniently and economically used for expeditiously loading cars either in mines or upon the surface; and with these ends in view our invention consists in the details of construction and arrangement hereinafter fully described.

In the loading of cars with coal it is extremely desirable that the coal should be deposited at each end of the carvrst and the center subsequently loaded, as in this manner of loading a greater amount can be placed in the cars.

Our improved construction is such that the conveyer which handles and delivers the load can at the will of the operator be moved toward either side or extended forward and retracted while it is in action in delivering the coal.

In the actual use of our improved loading apparatus the load is first delivered at either one of the extreme ends of the car to be loaded, as may be desired, and as the loading progresses the conveyer is moved backward until the loading of that end is finished, at which time the conveyer is in the proper position to commence the loading at the opposite end, which is accomplished by simply reversing the power. It will also be observed after a full understanding of our invention that the coalv is delivered gradually and smoothly and without the breaking effect produced by the ordinary loaders which involve the use of a vibrating beam and rotary or oscillating motion.

In order that those skilled in the art to which our invention appertains may fully understand the same, we will proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan View of a loader embracing our improvements. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same, looking in the direction of the arrow at Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, and Fig. l a detail section taken at the line Similar letters of reference denote like parts in the several gures.

A represents a suitable frame built on the side of the track opposite to the ordinary coal-chute, and B is an engine or other suitable motor and geared with a main drivinggear C. The top rails D of the frame or support A are provided with antifriction-wheels E, journaled in suitable boxes, and a hopper- ,frame F rests upon the antifriction-wheels E,

v gear K on the end of a rotatory shaft L, jour- .naled in suitable boxes on the cross-beams H, (see Fig. 1,) which is provided at its rear end with a bevel-gear M, meshing with a similar gear N on a vertical operating-rod O, provided with an operating-wheel P. From this construction it will be seen that with power applied to the wheel P the pedestal I may be rotated in either direction upon its axis.

Secured to the top of the pedestal I are parallel rails Q Q, constituting a top frame, and mounted in these rails near each end thereof are antifriction-wheels R R, (see Fig. 2,) which rotate between the outwardly-projecting flanges of two parallel I-beams S, mounted upon and secured to cross-beams or bracerods T, in turn secured to the top parallel rails Q Q, the construction and arrangement obviously being such that the I-beam frame S S is free to be reciprocated upon the antifriction-wheels R, so that said frame may be projected and withdrawn in the manner to be presently explained. y

U is a coal hopper or receptacle, composed IOO IOS

preferably of boiler sheet-iron and having a bottom V and flaring or oblique side walls W, the upper edges of which are bent, as shown at X, Figs. 3 and 4, to constitu te chair nels for the reception of antifriction and guiding rolls Y, the axles of which are secured by rivets or otherwise to a sliding vertical partition or scraper Z, having wings Z'. The side walls 4V of the coal-hopper are connected by hinges A' to the bottom V, and the wings Z of the scraper Z are pivoted at the bottom ends thereto, as shown at B', Fig. 3, and guided at their upper ends through the medium of curved grooves C' and studs D', which construction and arrangement will permit in an obvious manner of the sides W of the hopper (when empty) being folded inwardly to contract its size.

The under side of the hopper is provided with guiding-wheels E at suitable distances apart, which are adapted to travel between the flanges of the I-beams S on the opposite side of the web to that upon which the antif riction-wheels R R are located, so that while the I-beams S are free to reciprocate, as stated, upon the wheels R R the hopper U is independently capable of reciprocation upon the said I-beams. One of the -beams S is formed with a series of stop-holes f', adapted to receive the end of a stop-pin a, operated by a bell-crank foot-lever b, (see particularly Fig. 3,) so that the I-beam frame maybe locked at any desired position and freely released when desired.

The scraper or partition Z has secured to its bottom edge a barF', adapted to reciprocate within a longitudinal slot G' in the bottom V of the hopper, (see Figs. 1 and 2,) which, together with the guide wheels Y, maintains the scraper in its vertical position.

The main driving-gear C is mounted upon a shaft c, journaled in the main frame A, as most clearly shown at Fig. l, and upon which shaft is arranged a double clutch operated by a clutch-lever mechanism d in such manner that power may be applied alternately or in opposite directions to the operating-chain H' through the medium of the two feathered driving-pulleys. The operating-chain H', as seen more particularly at Fig. l, travels around a horizontal pulley K', thence over guiding-pulleys L', thence under the clutchpulleys I', thence over guiding-pulleys M', thence under pulleys N' and over the transversely-arranged pulleys O', thence around the idlers P' at each end of the I-beam frame, one end of the chain being attached to the forward end of the sliding bar F and the other end of the said chain to the rear end of said sliding bar, so that as the chain is caused to travel in one or the other direction the scraper Z will be correspondingly moved and will push the coal from one or the other end of the hopper.

Arranged on the frame F is a grip composed of three rollers, (shown in dotted lines at Fig. 3,) the upper one being mounted in the lower end of a brake stem and -wheel Q'.

When the upper roller of these three is forced down by the brake stem and wheel, the driving-chain'is gripped in such manner that its movement in either one or the other direction will cause the hopperU, as well as the I-beam frame S, to be projected and withdrawn.

The I-beam frame S is provided at the front andrear ends with any suitable stops R' to limit the longitudinal movement of said frame, and the hopper U is also provided with similar stops to limit its longitudinal movement upon the I-beam frame S.

It will of course be understood that the en- 'gine B or any other equivalent motor is provided with any desirable means for readily and quickly controlling its action when desired.

The object of constructing the hopper U with hinged sides and the scraper Z with contractible wings C' is in order that the hopper may be laterally contracted when necessary to enter the side door of a freight-car.

As before stated, the loading device is arranged alongside the track and on the opposite side thereof to that occupied by the ordinary coal-chute, and the coal is delivered into the hopper. The I-beam frame and hopper are in parallelism with the main frame F and supportA. rlhe engine or other motor is then started, and the action of the drive-chain H' Ifirst causes the main frame F to travel outward toward the car to be loaded and to such an extent as to bring the pedestal I within the car. The worm-gear K is then rotated, and through the medium of its action on the gear J the pedestal and hopper are rotated, so that the former is in parallelism. The I-beam frame S and hopper U are each or both then projected forward to any desired extent or locality and automatically locked in such position. The grip on the drivingchain then being released the clutch mechanism d is then operated so that the chain will cause the scraper Z to force the coal out of the hopper at its forward end and deposit it in the extreme end of the car to be loaded, and as the end of the car is loaded the hopper and frame are correspondingly drawn back so that the coal will fall in the proper locality to successively load the space in the car, and while this is being done the rear end of the hopper is approaching the opposite end of the car and is in position to load that end by causing the scraper to travel in an opposite direction to that which caused it to fill the first end, so that the car to be loaded is filled from the ends toward the center, thus securing more uniform and complete loading than can be accomplished by the ordinary loading devices.

While we have for convenience described the apparatus as located near an ordinary railroad-track, it will be understood that it can be successfully and advantageously used in coal-mines, at coal-docks, or whereverboX- cars or similar vehicles are used; and it will IOO IOS

IIO

also be understood that the use of our improved loader is not necessarily confined to the loading of coal, but that it may be used wherever it is applicable.

We do not wish to be confined to the precise details shown and described, as they may be varied in many particulars without departing from the broad principle of invention, which involves the idea of changing the angle or location of the hopper while the contents of the same are being delivered from the center thereof toward either end, and control- ,ling all the movements of the several part-s eration of our improved car-loader, what we4 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a car-loader, ahopper or conveyer provided with a reciprocatory slide or scraper, the conveyer mounted on a track or frame longitudinally movable upon a revoluble pedest-al or support secured to one end of a reci procatory main frame traveling upon a suitable support, in combination With a suitable operating belt chain or rope arranged as described, and a driving-engine or other motor, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. The hopper U longitudinally movable upon the reciprocatory I-beam frame S, and provided with a sliding scraper Z adapted to be moved in either direction, whereby the contents of the hopper may be delivered from either end thereof at will, as hereinbefore described.

3. The I-beam frame S adapted to support the hopper U as described, mounted on anti- `friction-rollers on the frame Q, and adapted to be turned at dierent angles through the medium of Worm H and gear J, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

4. In combination with the hopper U, I- beam frame S, frame Q, revoluble pedestal I, frame F, and support A, the drive-chain H traversing the pulleys as described and secured to the sliding bar F' of the scraper Z, in combination with a clutch mechanism CZ, and a suitable engine or motor B, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth. y

5. The hopper U composed of the bottom V, hinged sides l/V, with roller channels or boxes X, in combination with a sliding scraper Z having pivoted contractible wings Zl and antifriction-rollers Y, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The scraper Z provided with the antifriction-rollers Y traveling in the channels X ofthe hopper, and secured at its bottom edge to the reciprocating bar F sliding in the slot G in the bottom V'of the hopper, whereby the scraper is held in Vertical operative position, substantially as hereinbefore described.

7. In combination with the frame Q mounted on the pedestal I and the reciprocating I- beam frame S provided with locking-holes E', the locking device a, b, whereby the frames Q and S may be locked in any given relation or released, as hereinbefore explained.

8. The I-beam frame S traveling on rollers on the frame Q, and located between the exterior fianges of the I-beams, and the hopper U mounted upon antifriction-rollers located and traveling between the interior flanges of the I-beams, thus securing telescopic relation between the parts as shown and described.

9. In combination with the frame Q and reciprocating I-beam frame S, stops R located at each end of the frame S, whereby the movement of said frame in either direction is limited, as hereinbefore described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY PHILLIPS. WILLIAM HUNT. 

